This invention relates to means for anchoring an elongate member to another member. The invention is made with particular reference to the anchoring of Bowden-type cables to fixed parts of the chassis or bodywork of an automobile, and the invention will be described in that context in this specification. It will, however, be appreciated that such an anchoring member can be used for anchoring many other elongate members, and many other circumstances.
As is well known, a Bowden-type cable is a device for translating a push/pull movement at one location to a push/pull movement (in the same or any different direction) at a different location, often for control purposes, and such a cable comprises a flexible conduit in which a control wire is slidable to perform the desired function. In order for the relative movement of the control wire and the conduit to take place in a controlled manner for the reliable operation of, for example, a clutch or gearbox mechanism or throttle of a motor vehicle, it is necessary that each end of the conduit should be anchored, for example to the body of the vehicle.
In particular, the practice has developed of anchoring an end of the conduit to an opening in a bracket or bulkhead across which the control cable passes.
In a particular arrangement which is known for this purpose, this arrangement being that with which the present invention is particularly concerned, the bracket or bulkhead is provided with a generally circular hole near one edge, the hole being connected to that edge by a slot whose width is the diameter of the circular hole. That edge of a bulkhead may be a peripheral edge, or it may be an edge of another, larger hole formed within the bulkhead.
An anchoring sleeve or end fitting for the Bowden-type cable may comprise a neck of a diameter which will pass into the slot, in a direction which is parallel to the plane of the bracket or bulkhead and perpendicular to the axis of the cable, and a collar which may be slid or screwed axially of the anchor fitting to abut the bulkhead adjacent the slot and thus resist withdrawal of the anchor from the slot and also axial movement of the anchor relative to that slot.
In industry in general, and in particular in the automotive industry, there is a never ending search for the simplification or speeding up of the assembly process, and as one step in this search, there has arisen the proposal as set forth in EP-A-0 703 395 (Acco La Teledynamique SA) to provide a helically tensioned spring for the automatic screwing of such a collar. Such construction is, however, somewhat complicated, and it requires accurate centering within the slot before reliable anchoring can take place.